Omaha daily bee., 1887-10-16
MAGNANIMOUS GERMANS.
They Cry Down a Play Because II Ridi.
nps1ns Uns. ~ sror
LCopmiaht. 1887. bu James Gordon Be,.ns,t.l

tCopuright, 1887, by James Gordon Be,ne.t.l
BERLIN, Oct. 15.--lNe York Herald Cabls
Special to the BEE, German taste will
not permit theatrical caricature Of foreign
officials, even though these officials are
French. That is about the way the verdict
on the play in Berlin, "ln Wort und Bild,"
reads, but it cost the Friedrich Wilhemstad-
ersche theater something like 100, 900 marks 70
get the verdict. Last Saturday this theatre
through the excitement of the French From
tier saw an excellent opportunity to put on
the boards new play with General
Boulanger as a burlesque hero. To-day al
ter week of bowling by all the Berlin crit
les the burlcsque was withdrawn indefinitely
so damaged by the attempt to profit over
political excitement that the theatre ma.
ager thinks it will be six months before his
100, 600 marks costumes can be agaiu used in
a reconstructed version of the play saw this
afternoon the edramatistIacobson and askedhis
opinion regarding the failure of his play. He
evidently was good deal puzzled by the dis.
aster as he had thought Boulangcr would
make an excell7nt draw He said every
thing was well arranged. "Why, we spent
100000 marks on costumes. Tastes are un
accountable. My first experience was to
have the police go through my play and
strike out all lines of political import. The
police said, owing to the excitement, they did
not wish to risk giving offense. The
French burlesque hero was made
to resemble Boulanger but really
after the play passed police censorship there
was nothing left. Boulanger's part was the
least offensive to France. The public would
not wait to see this fact. The actor repre-
sentng Boulanger was not allowed to speak
\ 1;,, l.,t, ,,,l
not to allow such burlesquing. 1t was sur
prise to me, as I thought all nations were
pleased at seeing little harmless ridicu
cast at their neighbors 1t is not so in Berlin,
though. So we take off the piece to remodel it
and bring it out again next year when the
fury against it has worked off. No, in the
remodeled play of the "Boulanger" all allu-
sions to France will be left out.n
AT the theatre have found a strong dis
position to discuss the reasons for the plays
failure, but very emphatic statement was
made that ''Boulanger' would not appear on
their stage again. Among the critics as well
as among the public generally find strongly
expressed views that it was an outrage
to attempt to burlesque leading
French officer on the German stages. 1t
is source of considerable pride
that in city of Berlin's size Germans
enough cannot be found to support a play
caricaturing a French general in Il way
which would be unpleasant for Germany's
Molke to be caricaturcd. On the whole this
theatrical episode, though costly for the
theater, has considerable political value.
Unless the continued steady fall of Rus
sian securities can be properly called an
event, Berlin has passed Il week which leaves
nothing worth registering. Russian Sc
curities have been dropping all week with
monotonous steadiness in the face
of well sustained prices for other stocks.
There has been no panic or sudden drop in
Russians, but each days friction wears off a
to per cent in values with as yet no really
just reason, Why Russian values which have
been ieiG ffrm during the many war pancs
of the last year should nCs. nc no slowly sinking
is as unexplainable as is the sudden fan ..
Northern Pacific seconds. This stock
dropped ~ points in a single day and has
been declining slowly since then although
other issues of the same road remain I'M
affected.
While the stock exchange has been puz-
zling over the fall in Russians scientific Ber-
lin has been equally puzzling over the two
tailless kittens which are interesting for the
mothers sake. 1t seems the kittens mother,
ped off soon after they were born and these
kittens have no vestage of tails. Therefore,
of course, naturalists ask whether they are
merely freaks or whether the mothers mis-
fortune proved to be the kittens loss.